Grand Cinema Sunshine:
Japan’s Largest-in-ScaleFlagship Cineplex
• I N S T A L L S •
Grand Cinema Sunshine recently
held its grand opening in Ikebukuro,
Tokyo. With 12 auditoriums and
Japan's largest IMAX cinema, the
flagship cinema is one of the largest
complexes in Japan to feature
advanced technologies and luxurious
amenities to enhance the
moviegoing experience. Located at
Q-Plaza; a very popular commercial
complex that offers strategically
integrated shopping and
entertainment, the entertainment
section consists of a large baseball
centre and a theme park of PLAZA
CAPCOM, which is operated by a
famous Japanese game company
best known for developing many
classic games such as Street Fighter
and Biochemical Crisis. To ensure
cinema management efficiency,
equipment stability and flexibility,
this mega cinema chose GDC Cinema
Automation CA2.0 and the latest
generation diskless media server.
In addition, GDC's DTS:X immersive
sound system was installed to ensure
the highest sound quality.
How did your tryst with Cinema
Sunshine begin? How did it all
start?
Mr Sasaki: Grand Cinema Sunshine
at Ikebukuro opened in one of the
leading commercial area in
Tokyo with a population of about
14 million. Compared to Shinjuku
and other terminals, Ikebukuro’s
improvement of movie theatres was
delayed. We have been operating a
movie theatre company for about
70 years in Ikebukuro. We started this
project because we believe that our
mission is to build a movie theatre
that Ikebukuro customers can be
proud of compared to movie theatres
in other areas. The concept is to open
the best movie theatre, that’s it.
I visited movie theatres in the US,
China and other Asian regions to get
a hint of ‘What it is like to be in the
best movie theatre’. In order to build
the same, we not only prepared the
This flagship property is one of the largest complexes in
Japan to feature its advanced technologies and amenities
to enhance the moviegoing experience. Located at a very
popular commercial complex that offers strategically
integrated shopping and entertainment, this superplex is
one of the most technologically advanced cinemas with
several cutting-edge systems. Having a candid
conversation, TheatreWorld brings Takehiko Sasaki,
Senior Managing Director, Sasaki Kogyo Co., Ltd and
Dr Man-Nang Chong, Founder, Chairman and CEO,
GDC Technology Limited to its dais to brief more on the
property's luxe amenities. Here's more...
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• I N S T A L L S •
latest screening equipment and
sound equipment but also designed
the environment of how customers
can be integrated with the movie
world.
Brief us a little about Grand
Cinema Sunshine
Mr Sasaki: Grand Cinema Sunshine
consists of 12 auditoriums of
different sizes from 4th to 13th floor
of the building and offering 2,443
seats in total. The largest auditoriums
has 542 seats, with the screen size of
25.8m×18.9m. Auditorium No.7 and
No.8 are the smallest auditoriums,
each has 79 seats and a screen size of
7.1m×3.8m. Other auditoriums have
100 to 400 seats. Luxuriously
decorated with comfortable seats, all
auditoriums feature an aesthetically
pleasing atmosphere perfect for
watching movies.
What has been the impetus
behind this superplex project in
Tokyo?
Mr Sasaki: By making the flagship
cinema so well-known in Japan,
Q-Plaza has also become a new
popular landmark for shopping and
entertainment. Located in Q-Plaza,
Ikebukuro, Grand Cinema Sunshine is
the 14th cinema as well as the
flagship cinema under the brand.
Ikebukuro, is a leading commercial
and entertainment district in Tokyo,
attracting large crowds of people
with a demanding taste for quality
entertainment. To attract
moviegoers, Grand Cinema Sunshine
chose projection equipment from
leading world providers to meet the
demand of the higher-end
consumers. In addition, delivering
enhanced audio and visual
experience, cinema management
efficiency, as well as equipment
functionality and reliability, were
major concerns of the investors.
Tell us about the ornate
architecture and the luxurious
designing of the cinema
Mr Sasaki: As the investor, Sasaki
Kogyo introduced the latest cinema
technologies to make moviegoers
feeling special, including IMAX,
ScreenX multi-projection experience
that extends the screen to the
auditorium walls and 4DX which
allows a motion picture presentation
to be augmented with
environmental effects such as seat
motion, wind, rain, lights, and scents.
The acoustical reproduction system
features 7.1 sound as well as Dolby
Atmos and DTS:X respectively in
auditorium No.5 and No.6.
In addition, all 12 auditoriums are
deployed with Christie RGB laser
projectors with GDC’s SR-1000
Standalone Integrated Media Block
with CineCache and GDC’s innovative
Cinema Automation 2.0 (CA2.0).
The luxury configuration, state-of-
the-art technologies, quality and
novel projection effects, avant-garde
decoration and comfortable
environment have maximized the
movie experience to the greatest
extent.
Elaborate on the induced
features of the property that
make it stand-out in the highly
competitive cinema exhibition
market today
Mr Sasaki: Focusing on how to
improve operating and management
efficiency - By focusing more on
extreme audio and visual experience
along with cinema automation,
Grand Cinema Sunshine stand-out in
the highly competitive cinema
exhibition market today.
Good location, well-positioned plaza
- Located in Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Prefecture, Ikebukuro is one of
Tokyo’s three major sub-centres. Also,
Q-Plaza is a very popular commercial
complex that integrates shopping
and entertainment. Apart from
Grand Cinema Sunshine itself,
another highlight of the plaza is a
large entertainment section
consisting of a large baseball centre
and a theme park of PLAZA
CAPCOM. The theme park was run by
CAPCOM, which has developed many
classic games like Street Fighter and
Biochemical Crisis. PLAZA CAPCOM
offers diverse types of recreation
Cinema Sunshine's premium "BESTIA" (BEST IMMERSIVE AUDIO VISUAL) theatre in auditorium 5 & 6 have been equipped withGDC's DTS:X immersive sound systems
Q-Plaza has 10 floors, and 4-13 floors areauditoriums of GDCS Cinema. The 12th floor
is Japan’s largest IMAX cinema.
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facilities and the latest VR games to
customers at different ages. They can
also enjoy game-themed food and
beverages at a CAPCOM café.
What’s your say on the
innovative technology being
deployed in the cinema
Dr Chong: One of the innovative
technologies is GDC’s CA2.0, which is
a mature cinema automation
solution incorporating an SCL Series
Centralised Playback Server capable
of live streaming up to 2,000 DCI
movies to each auditorium installed
with GDC’s SR-1000 Standalone IMB
with CineCache. CA2.0 also features
automatic content management with
auto-show playlist generation; and
intelligent cinema equipment
management of pre-scheduled
equipment power supply and
screening quality testing and
analysis.
Why GDC products were
selected?
Mr Sasaki: Sasaki Kogyo is the first
company in Japan to install GDC
products such as media servers and
the immersive audio system. It has
been nearly 10 years since the
installation of GDC products.
The superior technical capabilities
and high reliability of GDC products
have always streamlined the
operation of our movie theatres.
Another important reason to use
GDC is that we have built a long-
term relationship and deep trust with
Dr Man-Nang Chong and other
employees over the past 10 years.
After we learned about the
technology at different exhibitions
such as CinemaCon, CineAsia and
other trade shows, we decided to
install immediately because it is a
great solution that could change the
way movie theatres operate in the
future.
Dr Chong: CA2.0 and SR-1000
were developed from our 20-year
knowledge of digital cinema.
By providing the ultra-reliable
technologies, it allows GDC to
constantly work with our valuable
partners, such as Sasaki-san.
The automation design of Grand
Cinema Sunshine does not only offer
cost efficiency but also improves the
screening quality.
Elaborate on the multiplexes run
by Cinema Sunshine around the
country.
Mr Sasaki: Cinema Sunshine is
developing cinema complexes
throughout Japan with the concept
of ‘creating community-based
cinemas’. We installed the most
actively advanced screening systems
such as IMAX, BESTIA, 4DX and
SCREENX to deliver the best movie
experience to our customers.
In addition, Cinema Sunshine has
developed an original smartphone
app that allows moviegoers to go
from ticket purchase to admission
without printing a paper ticket.
In order to create a more
comfortable environment, we are
pursuing a high-quality movie
experience that customers can only
experience at Cinema Sunshine.
Talking of growth trajectory, how
would you sum up the secret of
moviegoing experiences
demanded today?
Mr Sasaki: In addition to receiving
opinions directly by e-mail, we have
recently made it possible to visualize
customer opinions and requests via
SNS etc. We try to make use of these
opinions that can be handled
immediately, such as staff’s response
and programming. We are working
on long-terms to reflect as much as
possible about contents that we
cannot respond immediately, such as
systems and operations.
Any expansion plans for the
future?
Mr Sasaki: We will open a new
10-screen Cinema Complex in
Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
shortly. We have installed as many
new facilities as possible in Grand
Cinema Sunshine to Cinema
Sunshine LaLaport Numazu. We will
continue to evolve without
providing a fixed format so that we
can provide our customers with the
services that meet the needs of the
region and the best equipment that
can be installed at that time.
GDC's SX-4000 and XSP-1000 at projectionroom to deliver DTS:X immersive sound.
GDC CA2.0's SCL centralized playback serverand switches
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